


Winter Cottage

by Oakwyrm



Category: Thrilling Intent (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Winter, tiweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-02-08 22:49:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12874719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oakwyrm/pseuds/Oakwyrm
Summary: Astra sometimes needs to get away from everything. Her girlfriend's cottage in the middle of a northern forest seems an apt place to do just that.





	Winter Cottage

It was a cold day in midwinter. The sun shone pale in the sky, reflecting off of the thick blanket of snow covering the forest below. A small cottage sat nestled comfortably in a clearing, surrounded by high snowdrifts that reached the windows. The only signs of life around it were the cleared pathway from the door and the thin line of smoke curling up through the chimney.

Inside Astra sat curled up on the couch with a book while a fire crackled merrily in the fireplace. The house was silent, Harlock was out on a job, Homunculus was with her and Kelly... Kelly was somewhere. Probably out hunting.

Astra sighed softly and set her book down on the couch. She enjoyed the peace and quiet, yes, but she was getting a little bored. Absently she picked at the hem of her sweater, glancing out the window. A hare stopped it's hurried run across the snow to stare at her, it's nose twitching slightly before it hurried on. Astra smiled to herself. She truly was glad that Harlock had found this place for them.

The clock in the kitchen struck two, snapping Astra out of her thoughts. She frowned at it, but she had herd right, it was two o'clock. Harlock should be coming home soon, provided everything went to plan. Astra wasn't worried, of course. She knew Harlock and trusted her to be able to take care of herself. More urgently on her mind then was that she hadn't eaten since the morning.

She walked with renewed purpose to the refrigerator, pulling out the bag of calamari that had been defrosting there. She paused briefly to write down that they needed more on the store list before she set about cooking her lunch. She wasn't a very good cook, but fried calamari with spinach tagliatelle had been one of the dishes she had forced herself to learn.

Thirty minutes later she was sprinkling some cheese over the pasta, ready to sit down and eat, when she heard a key turn in the door. Harlock walked in, stomping snow off her shoes and shaking it from her clothes. Homunculus complained loudly about the movement. Astra laughed to herself, picking up her plate and seating herself at the table.

“I'm home!” Harlock called as she hung up her coat and threw off her bag.

“Welcome back. There's some food if you want it,” Astra said. Harlock walked into the kitchen, her eyes sweeping over the counter, taking quick note of what was there.

“I've already eaten.” She pulled up a chair and sat down across from Astra. “So you'll have to eat by yourself.”

“Good, I'm hungry.”

Harlock chuckled and went to put Homunculus' bottle down in his customary place on the fireplace mantle. She rejoined Astra at the table a mere moment later and they fell into a comfortable silence as Astra ate her lunch.

“Did the job go well?” Astra asked as she put her dishes in the dishwasher. Harlock groaned.

“I hate people,” she said flatly. “But yeah it went well.”

“So the usual.” Astra stopped briefly to kiss the top of Harlock's head as she passed by on her way back to the couch. Harlock leaned back in her chair, her lips twitching up into a smile.

“You want anything warm to drink?” she asked.

“Hot chocolate,” Astra replied, burrowing down among the blankets on the couch.

“Got it.” Harlock opened one of the kitchen cabinets and pulled down what she needed for one cup of coffee and one hot chocolate. She almost felt like chugging an entire pot of coffee and damn the consequences, but she knew the consequences that those were quite enough to deter her from ever doing that again.

Not long after she found herself seated next to Astra on the couch. She sighed contentedly and let the annoyance of the day wash off her. Beside her, Astra smiled softly and Harlock found herself for the first time in years wishing a single moment could last forever. Astra shifted closer to her, pulling the blankets so the both of them were covered.

Outside the sun had already begun to set, though it was barely half past two. Harlock set down her coffee cup on the low table in front of them. She glanced at the TV and the collection of various movies on the shelf next to it.

“You wanna watch something tonight?” she asked, looking over at Astra. Astra smiled, a smile with a little more mischief in it than usual.

“How about Fullmetal Alchemist?” she asked. Harlock rolled her eyes.

“Ha-ha, you're hilarious.” She leaned over to press a quick kiss to the side of Astra's head. “Seriously though.”

“The Princess Bride? Or Spirit...” Astra frowned, tapping her fingers against the couch's armrest.

“Spirit it is.” Harlock got to her feet, picking her coffee cup back up and downing the rest of the contents in one go. “You want popcorn or should I just start the movie?”

Astra rose with that particular kind of elegance that seemed unique to her. “I'll make the popcorn, you start the system.”

As Harlock started the job of coaxing life into the old and much-used blu-ray player, Astra grabbed the jar of popcorn kernels from a shelf in the kitchen. Soon the sound of popping kernels could be heard as Harlock cursed at the stubborn box. With no trouble, Astra made a decent amount of popcorn and salted it. By the time she returned Harlock had gotten the system started and the disc in, but she was glaring at the box like it had personally offended her.

“I'm thinking we need a new one,” Astra said as she set down the bowl on the low table and curled up back on the couch.

“No, really? What gave you that idea?” Harlock joined Astra on the couch as the menu screen for the movie came up.

“Call it a hunch,” Astra said, a light teasing in her tone. Harlock laughed and pressed play.

They fell silent, leaning against each other as the movie started and the world outside the cottage darkened further. The fire in the fireplace still burned and slowly, in the steadily growing darkness outside, snow started to fall.

**Author's Note:**

> *vague noises* ok there this is a thing now


End file.
